- 100% loan facility to be available, one per cent interest to be paid by owner of house while six per cent will be paid by govt
The National Assembly was informed on Thursday that the government has planned a housing scheme under which five hundred thousand low cost units will be provided to homeless people in the country.
Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Works Syed Sajid Mehdi informed the House during Question Hour that each housing unit will cost Rs 1 million. He said a hundred per cent loan facility will be available from which one per cent of the interest will be paid by the owner of the house while six per cent will be paid by the government itself.
He said each unit, consisting of 415 square feet, will be equipped with all facilities and will be allotted to the general public who will build the house by themselves.
He outlined that Balochistan has provided land for the project free of cost, while Punjab will be providing land at half the cost. Negotiations are underway with both Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Syed Sajid Mehdi said that the Apna Ghar Company has been formed and essential planning has been completed for the project. He said the scheme will be launched shortly after the prime minister is briefed.
To a question, Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar informed the House that the price of “Sovaldi,” a drug used in the treatment of Hepatitis, will be finalized within a week.
Replying to a question, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif informed the House that due to routine de-silting of canals there has been a decrease in production of power, due to which load-shedding has increased.
He said that at present the power production in the hydel sector is about 700 MW which will be increased to 3500 MW after the canals are reopened after a week. He said after this there will be significant decrease in the load-shedding till April.
The Deputy Speaker announced that PTI MNAs Imran Khattak, Ali Muhammad Khan, Sheharyar Afridi, Khayal Zaman Orakzai, Azhar Jadoon, Dawar Kundi, Murad Saeed, Qaiser Jamal, Asad Umar, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Nafeesa Inayatullah, Sajida Begum and Lal Chand have been absent from the House without leave of the Assembly for forty consecutive days with effect from August 12, 2014.
Replying to a call to attention regarding difficulties being faced by the residents of Sultan Pur due to non-separation of the area from the Cantonment Board, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Jaffer Iqbal said that the locals are being provided all the basic facilities and these will be improved if there is any demand.
The chair referred the matter to the concerned standing committee.
The House deferred the resolution regarding the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess Ordinance, 2014, for a further period of 120 days after objections raised by Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, S. A. Iqbal Qadri, and Aftab Sherpao.
